Monday, October 25, 2010

Not a REAL doctor

It was accounting 102. I was addressing my instructor because I disagreed with a grade. I referred to her as 'Mrs.' and she said "Call me Dr., I worked hard for that title and I think I earned it."

What happens lady if we are in public- I call you doctor and a guy falls down with a heart attack- and his wife turns to you and says, " You're a doctor- save my husband!"

And what do you say? "I'm a different kind of doctor"She says, "I don't care what kind of doctor you are just save my husband"You say what? "I'm a doctor of accounting. I have a PHD"And she says, "So you're not a real doctor?"And you say, "No I'm not a physician, but I earned my doctorate, so I am referred to as doctor. It was a lot of time and work so I've earned the title of doctor."

And then the man is dead.

You know, I am not a Barbra Boxer fan. A woman that's been in Washington for as long as she has should be able to tout some serious accomplishments- aside from the ability to get elected. That combined with my 19 year old experience is why I LOVE this ad.

(Once my brother finishes his PhD I will refer to him as doctor in public mostly to watch complete strangers to ask him about their flem filled coughs and night sweats.)

12 comments:

HAHAHAHA! that made my whole morning. i once had a prof who insisted on just being called sister thompson, not dr.thompson. a student objected using the same arguement that she had worked so hard for the title. sister thompson replied, "yes, but when is the last time you closed your prayer to dr. jesus?" it was really funny. and she was a textile chemistry professor. she spent many long hours saving fabric from an early demise.

That is brilliant. And something I've learned over many years of meeting high and low profile people--those with a true understanding of humility and character are the ones you would NEVER guess to be millionaires, Presidents of corporations and church authorities. They know the only difference between stations in life is their circle of influence.

meredith- happy to have another token liberal! now steve has a friend :) can you share with me what Boxer has accomplished in her past 20+ years that would make you so inclined as to keep her in office?

steve- anyone that works hard for a title, I can't really respect. If they work hard for the money, oh so hard for the money, if they work hard for the money then you bet I'd treat them right.

(in the military you refer to all superiors as sir or ma'am- you'd think Ms. Boxer in all her knowlege and glory and tenure would know that- and if she didn't like it she'd take it up with military protocol)

Wait, you treat someone more based on how much money is on their paystub or bank account than the title they also earned through hard work and quite possibly sacrifice, often via the means of money?!!?!? What kind of f'd up materialistic "respect" is that? I hope that only came out that way b/c you typed that before having your 'coffee'!

I'm so disappointed you didn't get my Donna Summer reference. You really can't call yourself a child of the 80's with out knowing 'She works hard for the money'

On topic- If someone works hard for money, be it one dollar or a million, at least they're working hard for something. If someone works hard for the title- it's out of sheer vanity- no other answer.

Work hard for money, work hard for their family, education, home or say...the people who elected you to office. That all deserves respect but you worked hard for your title? To put some letters in front of your name? Which in turn does what for you? Make you better than everyone else? So you worked so hard to be known as better than everyone else? Especially that of our military who put their lives on the line to protect the country?

The statement showed candidly the distain this woman has for the military coupled with her high regard for herself.

When I think of phd's that demand to be known as doctor one name comes to mind: Ross Geller.

First, I love the Barbara Boxer ad. So funny. And shows how stupid titles are when we get wrapped up in them. Which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Charlton Heston (referred to as PRESIDENT Heston): "political correctness is tyranny with manners." And the ad displayed this idea quite acurately.

Aside from focus on titles rather than hard work - getting a PhD is hard work and I'm sure at some point, along with the passion for the subject, comes a little bit of vanity, competition, or whatever you call it, saying, "I'm done with doing this, but I can't quit, I've gone too far, I have a love/hate relationship with my thesis topic, and today, I'm doing it for the title and tomorrow I'll do it for the pure love of science." Ok, so you earn doctor. Definitely, I'm more inclined to call you doctor if you aren't an idiot about it. Otherwise, I just feel like disrespecting you in whatever way annoys you most. And that's my pride - so be it. And I promise not to call you medical doctor if you aren't one.

But one day, your kid will want to call you Kory instead of Mom. And you worked darned hard for that title. So, a mix of ego, emotion, pride, and love, will make you want her to keep calling you Mom.

But the military REQUIRE you to use titles (or sir), so if she was using "General" to refer to him, it'd only be customary to use "Senator" back. But whatev. My point isn't to defend Boxer who I couldn't care less about.

My point is that MOST titles have little to do with money and the people that earn them SHOULD be shown respect for forgoing money or whatever to get that title. For instance, there is a reason we call policeman "Officer", it is out of respect for the title, not b/c of their money (ha) or hardwork (mmm, donuts) all the time. (No offense to policeman, but we all have known some that aren't worthy of the uniform, but still we respect their title.) Also, teachers as Mr and Mrs; any member of a clergy; and I include elected officials b/c NO ONE gets elected to BECOME rich, in this country you get rich first, ha. But seriously, to get elected is HARD work and working for your constituents SHOULD BE hard work, thus you've earned the title.